Perforated glove



Nov. 24, 1959 R. D. WISENBURG 2,913,729

PERFORATED GLOVE Filed May 28, 1957 VIII @421;

Fig. 4

INVENTOR. RALPH D. W/SENBURG BY 6 /90/55 (MM/V ATTORNEYS PERFORATEDGLOVE Ralph D. Wisenburg, Coshocton, Ohio, assignor to EdmontManufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application May 28, 1957,Serial No. 662,290

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-167) This invention relates to the art of making glovesand more particularly to an improved work glove.

In the manufacture of work gloves one of the principal problems to bemet is size. Only one or a very few sizes are made. It is difficult tomanufacture one glove which is comfortable on all adult human hands.

Another and related problem is that work gloves must be veryinexpensive. To obtain a low cost glove with good wearing properties,plastic coated woven fabrics are often used. These materials form aglove which is somewhat stiif and uncomfortable to the wearer.

It has been discovered that if a plastic coated woven fabric isperforated, very desirable properties are obtained. One of theseproperties is that the material becomes softer and more flexible. It hasbeen discovered that an entirely unexpected property is obtained. As aglove made from this perforated material is flexed, the perforationstend to distort around the knuckles and other areas of fiexure. Thisdistortion permits the glove to stretch and conform to the wearers hand.

Accordingly, one of the principal objects of this invention is toprovide a novel and improved glove made from a perforated plastic coatedfabric which tends to flex and stretch when in use. This flexing andstretching provides a glove which better conforms to hands of varioussizes and a glove which is comfortable to the wearer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedglove which is cool to the wearer. Previously known plastic coated wovenfabric work gloves have been very warm and uncomfortable when worn forwork such as summer gardening and many industrial jobs. The perforationsprovide ventilation and thereby a cooling effect.

Perforations in a work glove present a serious problem. Dirt will tendto pass through the perforations and defeat one of the principalpurposes for wearing a work glove. It has been discovered, however, thatif the inner surface of the woven fabric is napped the nap fibers tendto cover the inner ends of the perforation and filter out dirt.

For these reasons, another object of the invention is to provide a noveland improved perforated plastic coated woven fabric Work glove which hasinherent dirt filtering characteristics.

It has also been discovered that a perforated glove has improved gripcharacteristics. When lifting such objects as cardboard cartons theperforations increase the surface friction between the glove and thecarton and therefore the grip characteristics of the glove.

For these reasons, a still further object of the invention is to providea novel and improved work glove with superior gripping characteristics.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a process for making astrong and durable glove having all of the foregoing objectives.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

United States PatentO Patented Nov. 24, 1959 Figure 1 is an elevationalview of one of the improved gloves when flexed and in the position itassumes when a wearer closes his hand;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of one of the improved work gloves made in aslightly modified form with respect to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the portion of the glove seen from thelocation indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and on a materiallyenlarged scale with respect to Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the glove as seen from theplane indicated by the line 44 of Figure 3.

In the drawings, a palm section is indicated by the numeral 10. The palmsection 10 includes an index finger portion 11. The index finger portion11 is cut so that part of it can be folded over and sewed together toform the entire covering for the wearers index finger.

The palm section 10 also has a second finger portion 12, a ring fingerportion 13, and a fourth finger portion 14. In Figure 1 a part of eachof these finger portions 12, 13, 14 is visible. The particularconstruction is not a part of the present invention. The constructionprovides a glove which is preferred for practicing this invention. Inthis preferred construction the entire face or inner section of theglove and the entire index finger are cut from a single piece of fabricwhich has been identified as the palm section 10. The well known Gunn"cut style patterns may also be used in which the palm section is cut sothat the index finger portion 11 is only the inner part of the indexfinger.

A thumb section 15 is provided. The thumb section is sewed to the palmsection 10 along a seam indicated by the numeral 16. A second fingersection 18, a ring finger section 19, and a fourth finger section 263are also provided. The index finger portion 11 and the finger sections18, 19, 20 extend to the wrist to cover the back of a users hand. Thesecond finger section 18 is sewed to the palm portion along the seamindicated at 22. The second and ring finger sections 18, 19 are sewedtogether at 23. Thering and fourth finger sections 19, 20 are sewedtogether along the seam indicated by the numeral 24. The seams 22, 23,24 extend along the back of the glove. p

In the embodiment of Figure 1 a tape 28 is sewed along the wrist end ofthe glove. In the embodiment of Figure 2 a stretch wrist portion 29 isprovided.

All of the material used in the embodiment of Figure 1 is perforated. Inthe case of the embodiment of Figure. 2 the second, ring, and. fourthfinger sections 18, 19,20 are the only part of the glove made fromperforated material. As will be apparent, various combinations ofperforated and non-perforated material are possible according to theconditions and demands of any given application for which the glove ismade. However, a glove made in accordance with this invention hasperforations in areas of flexure, such as the knuckles.

When one of these gloves was made for the first time, it was feared thatthe glove might not be useable as a work glove because of the dirtproblem. Only after one of these gloves was made and tested was itdiscovered that dirt in fact was not a problem if a napped material wasused. It was also discovered that this glove has several other materialadvantages. The glove is flexible, it feels better and fits the wearershand better than prior known plastic coated gloves.

The reasons for these phenomena are not fully understood. Theexplanation is believed to be presented in Figures 3 and 4. In thosefigures the perforations in the back of the stalls are indicated by thenumeral 30. It will be noted that some of the perforations shown inFigure 3 are distorted. This is a pictorial attempt to disclose whatactually happens when the glove is worn.

The glove stretches because the perforations distort. The result is aglove whichis comfortable to thewearer,

'In Figures 3 and 4 the size of the perforations have been greatlyexaggerated for purposes ofillustration. The preferred diameter of theperforations'in theractual glovematerial is less than the diameter showninFigL 1r es Sand 4. It has been-determinedthat an optimurnfbalancebetween dirt resistance and flexibility canjbe, ob- 'tained'if theperforations are about ,4 to inch in diameter and spaced about of aninch apart.

It should also be noted that perforations ,are arranged in uniformlyspaced relationship and in straig'lrn'row s. These rows are each at anangle to'the axis ofthejfingers. The holes thus have an appearance of adiamondpattern. The reasons are not fully understood, but this diamondrelationship is utilized.

'One of the further discoveries of 'the invention is,best

understood by reference to Figure 4. The inner surface of the-fabricmaterial is napped. This nap is indicated by the numeral 33. The nappedfibers are so arrangedas to extend around and usually across theperforations 30. The combination of the smallness ofthe perforations andthe filters formed by these napped fibers 33 ghas prov'ed to be morethan adequate as a 'dirt penetration inhibitor.

In making the glove a fabric, preferably woven cotton, has its innersurface 33 napped. A coating ofplastic is applied to the outer surface.Of presently known materials, polyvinyl chloride in a plastisol is thepreferred coating material. A suitable formula employs polyvinylchloride or polyvinyl chloride-polyvinyl acetate copolymers. The acetatein the copolymer is less than The formula is:

One method for forming the perforations is by punching the holes with amachine which is normally used for punching holes in sheet metal. Afterthe holes are formed the various glove sections are cut to the shapespreviously described. These sections are then sewedtogether to form thefinished glove.

This plastisol is applied to the fabric with a knife-type spreader andcured at 350 F. After the plastic coating has-been applied to the fabricthe perforations 30 are formed. It has been discovered that the plasticcoating bonds the fibers together and prevents raveling. Further, the.plastic coating affords suflicient strength to the material'to make avery sturdy. and workable glove.

The preceding information discloses an improved inexpensive work glovewhich is both flexible, comfortable,

'di amond pattern appears to most fully. utilize the dis-.

cool, and dirt-free. A process for the manufacture of such a glove hasalso been disclosed.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of. parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

I claim:

1. A glove comprising, fibrous fabric palm and back portions,fibrousfabric finger and thumb stalls, the glove having a plurality ofareas of fiexure, the fabric being perforated in at least some of saidfiexure areas, the fabric having inner and outer surfaces, the innersurface having napped fibers, some of the napped fibers being disposedacross each of the perforations to formdirt filters, and a plasticcoating on at least one surface of the fabric and adhered to at leastsome of the fibers ofthe fabric, and said coating being a reinforcementbond between said adhered to fibers.

2. Aglove comprising, fabric palm and back portions, fabric thumb andfinger stalls, said fabric comprising a dimensionally stable and stretchresistant wovenlnatural fiber'materialhaving inner and outer surfacesand a reinforcement plastisol coating on the outer surface thereof, atleast some of the fibers of the fabric being impregnated by the coating,said coating being a reinforcing bond betweensaid impregnated fibers,the inner surface of the material having napped fibers, said stallsincludingfinger joint areas, the fabric having perforations formed in,atleast some of the finger joint areas to provide stretchable joint areas,each of said perforations having an inner end and a filter across theinner end, saidfilters eachbeing comprised of a plurality of said nappedfibers projecting over said innerends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES Article in Rubber Age of December 1952, page 343, (Copyavailable in Division 25.)

